


Gone Fishing

by beautifultrouble



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Camping, Challenge Response, Cooking, F/M, Fishing, Off-World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 10:43:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16386386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautifultrouble/pseuds/beautifultrouble
Summary: With a shake of his head, he reaches out a hand and pulls her to her feet.“Behold, the time to go fishing is upon us.”Set during the week between Nemesis and Small Victories, when Sam, Jack and Teal'c are stranded on P4X-234.





	Gone Fishing

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [SophieHatter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieHatter/pseuds/SophieHatter) in the [CookOutNBakeOff](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/CookOutNBakeOff) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
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> Off-world or camping cooking. Any pairing.

“Alright, Carter, shake a leg!”

She lifts a hand to her face, shielding her eyes from the sun as she tries to make out the face of her commanding officer as he towers over her.

“Is there a problem, Sir?”

She senses no immediate danger, but you can never quite tell on an alien planet – even one such as P4X-234 which is uninhabited. She frowns as the sun impairs her vision and is glad when the colonel steps to the side, his frame blocking the sunlight. She smiles her thanks and as her eyes adjust, she sees that he is grinning. At her. Before she can ask why he is looking at her the way he is, he speaks.

“There’s no problem, Major.”

She looks around and then back to him. He’s still grinning. “Then what’s –”

“We’ve got work to do.”

“Work, Sir?”

“Yup.”

Sam straightens, but remains sitting. “What ‘work’? We can’t do anything until the SGC –”

“Ah, Carter! Carter, Carter, Carter,” he drawls, and with a shake of his head, he reaches out a hand and pulls her to her feet.

“Behold, the time to go fishing is upon us.”

“Fishing, Sir?”

“Fishing,” he confirms. “It’ll be fun,” he adds, more lightly when Sam hesitates. “Trust me.”

It takes a few moments, but then she smiles. “OK.”

“Really?”

She tries not to laugh at the surprise on his face, but she catches a glimmer of doubt in his eyes and she suddenly wonders if his invitation was sincere. “If you’d rather go alone, I can –”

“No! Uh, I mean, no. It’s fine.”

Sam stares at him in disbelief.

“I mean it,” he adds. “I was just surprised you agreed.”

“To go fishing? Why?”

“You turned me down once already,” he replies, then freezes when he realizes he’s actually given voice to the thoughts. An awkward silence descends as they stare at each other.

“Well, you did say I needed to have more fun, Sir. Now seems as good a time as any,” she shrugs.

Finally, he nods at her logic and grins, gesturing for her to follow. When they arrive back at camp they find Teal’c in a state of Kelno'reem, so the colonel quickly grabs a few items, which Sam thinks look suspiciously like crude fishing rods.

“Hold the fort, Teal’c,” he calls over his shoulder as he walks back towards Sam. “We’ll be back in time for dinner.”

* * *

Jack watches as his teammate effortlessly and elegantly casts her fishing line into the water – “ _Nice!_ ” – and he smirks at the slight flush that appears on her face at his praise.

“So, you having fun?”

She doesn’t answer straightaway but she can feel his eyes on her, studying her closely.

“Ah, come on Sam,” he teases as he nudges her shoulder with his. “You can’t tell me this isn’t relaxing.”

“It is quite nice to just sit and do nothing for a while,” she agrees.

“I hear a ‘but’ coming, Carter.”

“Well,” she hesitates and turns to face him. “We’ve been here for three hours now.”

“Yeah? What’s your point?”

“Isn’t the object of going fishing to actually... catch some fish?”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Carter,” he replies casually as he stretches his legs out in front and crosses his ankles. “You see, it’s not about the actual fish themselves. In this context, the fish aren’t really that important. It’s about the fish _ing_. The act of fishing, if you will.”

Almost immediately, Sam narrows her eyes. “There are no fish in this lake, are there?”

“No.”

Ripples of laughter escape before she can stop them and she misses the look of delighted surprise on the Colonel’s face as a result. When her amusement subsides, she turns serious and risks a glance at the man beside her, thankful that his attention seems to have returned to the still water before them. She takes a deep breath and decides to forge ahead with her question.

“Are there fish in the pond at your cabin, Sir?”

Even behind his shades, Sam is aware the instant his gaze shifts to her. Nothing in his body language changes; she just knows by the tell-tale tingle that sweeps along her skin. She’s noticed it more and more recently, but before she can dwell on why it is happening, a voice cuts through her thoughts.

“No.”

Her lips quirks into a strange smile as she regards her commanding officer.

“They why the invitation to go fishing?”

She catches his slight grimace before he shrugs. “I thought you could do with a break.”

“Oh.”

Neither his reason, nor her response, sound completely believable, and Sam frowns, unsure as to whether she is relieved or disappointed at the discovery. Slowly, Jack removes his sunglasses and lets the neck strap take the weight as they fall against his chest. His eyes burn into hers, dark and serious, but there is the smallest grin playing around his lips.

“What’s wrong?”

“Sir?”

“You seem disappointed. Like that’s not what you were expecting to hear.”

“No, I’m not,” she straightens. “I mean, I wasn’t – I–”

She huffs out a breath and any trace of humor disappears. “Carter?”

“It’s nothing, Sir.”

“ _Carter._ ”

She sighs. “Well, it’s just – You never asked before – I didn’t even know you had a cabin in Minnesota – and I was – surprised.”

She ducks her head in an attempt to hide her embarrassment, even though she knows it’s futile.

“Surprised that I had a cabin, or surprised that I asked you to it?”

“Um,” she pauses. “Both. I think.”

“You think?”

She can hear the amusement return to his voice but she refuses to look at him. “Why?”

“Why what, Sir?”

“Why were you surprised?”

Her attention darts to him before returning to the lake. “I don’t know,” she admits. “But now that I think about it, you do seem like the kind of person who would own a cabin.”

“What kind of person’s that?”

“Outdoorsy.”

_Charming. Rustic. Clandestine. Homely._

She silently congratulates herself for holding back those answers.

“So, then your surprise is… that I asked you to the cabin.”

She doesn’t answer because she doesn’t want to vocalize that he’s right – but her silence seems to be confirmation enough.

“Why me?” she suddenly asks and, at his confused look, elaborates. “Why not Daniel or Teal’c?”

“Daniel was still holed up in the infirmary,” he shrugs, “and Teal’c – I’m not sure fishing is his style.”

“So, that left me?”

“It didn’t leave you, Sam. If anything –” She holds her breath and waits as the colonel decides against whatever he was going to say. “I thought you’d just enjoy some natural scenery for a change rather than the inside of your lab.”

She’s touched that he cares about how much time she spends in her lab, but she still can’t quite get her head around the fact that he invited her to his cabin. In Minnesota. Alone.

“You said we were friends.”

“Well, we are – friends – aren’t we?”

His words are careful, slow.

Sam regards him closely and sits back. She has tried not to think about the issue too much because she isn’t really sure how she views her commanding officer. They are teammates – colleagues – obviously, but they are also more than that. It’s almost as if they’ve become this weird little family and the more she thinks about it, the more she definitely views Daniel and Teal’c as her protective brothers. But then there is Jack. She involuntarily draws in a breath at the emotions it stirs within her. She honestly doesn’t know what she sees him as any more, but decides – for now – to stay with safety and feels herself finally nodding at his question.

“Carter, that’s not –” he sighs. “Look, I know these past few months have been – difficult – but –”

She watches as he purses his lips for a moment before he turns his head and pins her with an intense look. His eyes are serious, but Sam can sense his hesitation.

“I guess, I just wanted to make sure things between us were still… okay,” he shrugs.

Sam feels her heart start to beat faster as panic rises within her. “Did you think things… weren’t okay?”

“I wasn’t sure,” he admits. “But I wanted them to be. So, I thought if I asked you to the cabin…” He trails off and throws her what she thinks is a bashful smirk. “He that would fish… must venture his bait.”

His words replay in Sam’s mind and she isn’t sure how to respond, but she does feel slightly guilty.

“I wanted to say yes, you know.”

She feels the colonel’s attention shift to her, his eyes roaming her face. “I know,” he murmurs.

“I just didn’t think it would be a good idea.”

She hears him sigh. “I know. As much as I would like to you see the cabin,” he hedges in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence that has formed, “I’m kind of glad you didn’t.”

When she doesn’t say anything, he slips his sunglasses back. “It gives us something look forward to, you know, when this is all over,” he adds with a vague wave to the sky as his gaze returns to the lake.

“Us, Sir?” She winces at the unevenness in her voice. “What –”

The rest of her sentence is interrupted, and the tension that has been building is broken by a sudden tug on her fishing line. Their attention snaps to the water.

“Ah, Sir?”

“Holy crap! Way to go, Carter!”

She ignores the proud grin on his face as panic wells inside her.

“What’s happening?”

“You got a bite!”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ve gotta reel it in, Carter, or you’re gonna lose him.”

She frowns as another tug pulls on the line. “What do I do?”

She vaguely registers the Colonel laughing as he sets his own line down on the bank and he quickly scrambles to his knees. He moves behind her, his chest resting flush against her back as his arms ghost over hers, his hands covering hers. What she does next, she has no idea, because Jack is murmuring instructions in her ear and all she can think about is how right it feels to have him next to her. It’s only when a fish is dangling in front of her face that she realizes she has just made her first catch. She smiles proudly – and in slight disbelief – at the sight and turns her head to look at the colonel.

“I’m proud of you, Sam.”

His face is just inches from hers and she traces the movement as his attention drops to her lips before going back to her eyes. They both lean in at the same time when the crackle from Jack’s radio shatters the silence. It’s Teal’c asking if he should start to source their evening meal.

“We, ah, should probably head back to camp,” Jack offers, his voice low.

She takes his proffered hand and nods, willing her heartbeat back to a normal rhythm.

* * *

Sam doesn’t even attempt to hide her disgust at the colonel’s suggestion that in order for her to complete the entire fishing experience, she needs to gut and clean the fish too.

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, Carter,” he argues, and she resists the urge to throw offending item at him, if only to wipe the smirk off his face.

“Can you not do the honors, Sir? And then I can cook it.”

“With all due respect, Carter, I’ve tasted your cooking.”

She frowns. “What’s wrong with my cooking?”

“Nothing’s wrong – per se,” he offers, waving a hand around. “It’s just… not great.”

“With all due respect, Sir, there’s not much I can do with MREs. Nothing makes them taste good.”

“What’s your point?”

“I can cook!”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

He grins. “Then prove it.”

“I will,” she retorts, a grin shaping her own lips. “Once you gut and clean the fish.”

With that, she shoves the fish against his chest and she knows there is glint in her eye at the challenge. She also recognizes the moment her commanding officer backs down. He isn’t angry, however, and this makes her grin widen.

“I’ll help Teal’c with the fire,” she throws over her shoulder as she walks away.

It takes all of fifteen minutes before the colonel presses the fish into Sam’s hands and she quickly gets to work. She can feel his eyes on her, burning a route between the makeshift preparation area and the campfire, as he watches. She feels the tingle on her skin as things start to heat up and she is pretty sure that none of it can be blamed on the fire. His gaze is on her back, her arms, her hands – any part of her that’s moving – but he lets her work in silence, for which she appreciates, because now that she has admitted she can cook, she feels a lot more pressure to make sure that their meal is indeed edible.

She pokes at the fish and absently wipes a hand across her face. She is pretty sure their meal is almost ready when he says, “You’ve been holding out on me, Carter.”

She says nothing, but smiles when he adds: “What other secrets are you hiding?”

“About my cooking abilities?”

“About anything,” he quips.

“I make a mean soufflé,” she comments as she hands him his portion, shrugging when the Colonel’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

They all tuck into their meal and Sam breathes a sigh of relief when no complaints as to the taste are uttered. Teal’c is the first to finish.

“Major Carter,” he says. “Dinner was a most enjoyable experience. Thank you.”

“Thanks, Teal’c.” She bites down on her bottom lip but it doesn’t tamper her smile as she glances towards Jack who is eyeing them both warily.

“You know, Carter… It actually wasn’t that bad,” he finally says.

She laughs. “You could try sounding a little less surprised, Sir.”

As she reaches for the colonel’s dish, he also stands and lets his fingers brush against hers, giving them a light squeeze. His eyes roam her face and his next words are said for her ears only.

“Samantha Carter. The gift that keeps on giving.”

She can feel her skin burning at the reverence he places on the words and they both hold a conversation with their eyes. It’s only broken by Teal’c who throws Jack a suspiciously knowing look.

“O’Neill, are you not satisfied with Samantha Carter’s… catch of the day?”

Sam averts her gaze as very calmly, slowly, a smile spreads across the colonel’s face.

“Oh, I am. Believe me,” he murmurs. “Now, about that soufflé, Carter…”


End file.
